Pretty Duckling
by smile1
Summary: PaceyJoey one piece. Back when Pacey and Joey weren’t friends or lovers, but something in between: Joey's insecure.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the series _Dawson's Creek _or the original characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.

**A/N: **These last couple of weeks I've been watching old episodes of _Dawson's Creek_. I'm up to season 4 right now, so I doubt there'll be another P/J story following this one, but as far as this one goes, it needed to be written, despite the barely there plot. Just read through it and let me know what you think. :)

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**Pretty Duckling**

_''Will you love me?''_

Joey watched the car drive off, its exterior sleek and black as night and its interior glamorous and reeking of leather with the not so perfect guy in it. Both the car and its owner vanished soon enough into thin air and she quickly turned her eyes away from the tire tracks they had left behind in the dirt.

It was ironic how her date had been in a hurry to get her home, speeding off as soon as she had shut the door behind her when he had been the one who pursued her and she was the one who had made herself as small as possible during their ride back to the B&B. It was ironic that he had wanted so desperately to get rid of her when minutes before he wouldn't take no for an answer. It was ironic that he had tried to take her to places that she didn't want to go and when she didn't want to go a step further, he had gotten angry at her.

She wrapped her arms around herself, running her hands up and down her upper arms to keep warm while pondering where she was heading. There were three options and she ended up taking the most unlikely one, looking forward to the light-hearted comfort of someone who was as far from perfect as tonight's date, but in the right ways.

She knew where to find him and what he was doing. He was working on his boat that was still unfinished, but looked better every day. _And so did he. _To her surprise, he didn't hear her approach when usually he had a sixth sense when it came to her, but he hadn't counted her on stopping by, so when she softly called his name, his own surprise was clear in his big blue eyes.

''Hey,'' she said.

He acknowledged her with a nod, leaning over to drop his paintbrush in a half-empty bucket. ''Did I know you were coming by?'' he asked, looking at her and wiping his hands on his stained jeans.

She shook her head, thinking how maybe she shouldn't have come here and how she knew better than to bother him with her problems; after all, he had enough of his own to worry about. She thought about just turning around and leaving, but he had already made his way over to her, joining her in the spot of moonlight. He immediately saw that something was wrong; she gave herself away. ''Have you been crying, Potter?'' he asked, his tone joking, though he knew that she wasn't the kind of girl to cry over every little thing.

She turned her head to the side, slightly ashamed to be standing in front of her best friend's friend with the little mascara she had put on earlier now streaked across her upper cheeks. It was true; she hadn't been able to hold back the tears during her walk over.

Pacey's fingers skimmed against her upper arm, making her look at him again. ''Hey, you alright?''

With her arms still hugging her own frame, she shrugged.

''Okay,'' he began, taking charge of the situation, ''I feel a heart to heart coming on.''

Joey shook her head. ''No, Pacey, I-''

''Then what did you come down here for?'' There was no answer and he nodded. ''Thought so. Now, come on, the outside of the boat might still need a couple of finishing touches, but the inside however, will blow your mind.'' He carefully smiled at her and she tried to offer him one back, but it wasn't her time just yet.

He climbed on deck first and helped her on board, keeping his fingers tangled up with hers as he led her downstairs. It was an intimate gesture and an even more intimate place to take her, but something about it reassured her that he was looking out for her the best he could, even though he didn't have a lot of experience when it came to it. He sat her down, wishing he could do more for her, offer her something to drink, but he couldn't and he made the best of it.

It was just now, even though the light wasn't as bright as it should be, another kink he needed to work out, that he noticed what she was wearing: a dress, a brilliant green one that stood out even more than it already did because of her sun kissed tan and the much darker shade of brown her wavy locks held. She was beautiful and she didn't know it.

She caught his eyes with her own and frowned. ''What?''

He shook his head. ''Nothing, it's just... You're wearing a dress.''

''And?'' She self-consciously tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear.

''Who're you trying to impress?''

''What do you mean?''

''I didn't mean anything by it, Joe.'' He purposely missed a beat before going on, hearing the defense in her voice, ''It's just not you, that's all.''

''Pacey...''

He sighed and sat down, facing her. ''What happened?''

She shrugged, her eyes set on her lap and her hands clasping her elbows that rested on her upper thighs.

''Come on, Joe, just tell me,'' he gently pushed her.

Her eyes were brought upwards, gingerly bordering his. ''You promise not to say anything 'till I'm finished?''

He quickly ran his fingers across his heart and nodded, not saying a word.

She returned the nod with one of her own, anxiously brushing the loose strands away from her face and revealing her lightly made up exterior to him: the subtle shine to her cheeks, her red glossed lips and the faint touch of dark eyeliner around her eyes. _She just needed a touch of showiness to look natural. _''I had a date,'' she said carefully, explaining her dolled up appearance to him. ''I met him last weekend, when he came to stay at the B&B with his parents, and, I don't know, he was... nice. That's what I thought anyway.'' She sighed. ''We talked a lot and he asked me out on a date.'' She shot him a warning look. ''Yes, Pacey, I do get asked out on dates occasionally.''

He raised his hands in defense, but cracked a smile anyway.

''So, under the advisement and with the help of Bessy I got all dressed up, and he noticed, though I doubt he really meant it.''

''What does that mean?''

''It means that he was more interested in what was underneath the dress than the dress itself,'' she drew a more than probable conclusion.

''Are you saying what I think you're saying?''

''We were in his car, in the parking lot of the movie theater, and I don't know exactly what happened, but all of a sudden he was right beside me, too close for comfort really.''

''He got fresh with you?'' Pacey asked with a raised voice.

She offered him a single nod of the head. ''I told him to stop when he put his hands on me, but his behavior was typical for a guy in this classic example of a 'guy wanting more than the girl is ready for' situation.''

Pacey swallowed the lump in his throat. ''How far did he get?''

She shook her head. ''Pacey, I don't-''

''How far did he get, Joey?'' he asked more firmly this time, his gaze intense and serious on her.

''Not that far,'' she said while looking away, her cheeks red. ''I stopped him when he tried to kiss me. I pushed him away, Pacey.'' She looked back up. ''I asked him to take me home and he did.''

''What a gentleman,'' he replied dryly.

''Hardly,'' she whispered. ''He said some things to me, Pacey.'' He was silent and let her go on at her own pace. 'He said that I was a piece of white trash and that I should be glad that someone like him would so much as glance at me. He also called me a prude because I didn't want to do it with him in the backseat of his car,'' she told him, her tone soft, sad and just a tad bitter. ''If I knew what kind of guy Tim was I wouldn't have wasted my time and money on this dress.'' She sat back and crossed her arms. ''How could I not see through his nice guy facade, Pacey. Am I that gullible or maybe I'm just stupid?''

''Hey, come here,'' he said, taking her by the elbow and gently pulling her towards him. He slid an arm around her waist to keep her close, and she didn't fight him on it. ''There's nothing stupid about you, Miss Potter. Tim doesn't know what he's talking about, and how can he when he doesn't know anything about you? The bastard isn't worth feeling bad about, Joe,'' he finished off his statement with a kiss on the top of her head, earning himself a smile from her. ''How come you can always make me feel better about myself?'' she asked while looking up at him.

He shrugged. ''Must be my charm, sweetheart.''

She curled into him some more, loving the silence that wrapped around them like a security blanket, though soon afterwards she heard him mutter, ''Good thing I wasn't around when he dropped you off otherwise I would've broken all of his fingers.''

''I know you would've,'' she said softly, giving them a few seconds before giving him a follow-up question. ''Hey, Pace, am I attractive?''

''Where's this coming from?''

Another shrug was her response and he sighed. ''Joe, the guy was all over you, so I don't think that's an issue, and before you say anything,'' he said before she could say anything, ''you look ravishing.''

''Are just saying that because I feel insecure or because of the dress?''

''Neither,'' he answered. ''I'm saying that because I'm your friend, or at least I'm supposed to be posing as one. Speaking of friends,'' he immediately rattled on, ''Why didn't you go to Dawson?''

''I don't think he would have been the right person to go to in this case.''

''Meaning?'' He threw her a sideways glance.

''Meaning that he wouldn't have been so eager to jump to my defense.'' She pulled her knees closer to her body. ''He probably would have told me how stupid I was for not getting to know Tim better before going out on a date with him, and how not everyone's who's nice has the right intentions, and he would've told me that I should've known better.''

He chuckled. ''Yeah, that sounds like Dawson, alright.''

''Pacey, do you think I should've known better?''

He affectionately looked at her and shook his head. ''You're human, Joe. You're allowed to make mistakes.''

She smiled and lazily fingered the buttons of his shirt while he rubbed lazy circles on her lower back, slowly bringing her into a drowsy state. ''Can I stay here for a while?''

''I'm not going anywhere,'' Pacey said, looking down at Joey and sealing the deal with another kiss on the crown of her head.

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**Please review? (: **This will probably be the first and only Dawson's Creek piece I write because I think I've gotten the short obsessive passion I had for the Pacey/Joey pairing out of my system. Before I go, I have to say that Joshua Jackson is very cute, especially when he had a little more facial hair. :p Anyway, if anyone's still browsing through the stories at this Fanfiction section, please take the time to leave me a review. :)


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